China's rapidly changing economy is the focus of a two-day international symposium featuring leading economists, including Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs and Economics Professor Jagdish Bhagwati, along with more than 25 other scholars, business leaders and government officials.

The conference, titled "China's Economic Emergence: Progress, Pitfalls and Implications at Home and Abroad," will be held April 7-8 and will address China's growth potential and the implications of China's increasing influence on the United States and the world economy. Environmental costs of economic development, public health needs in the era of economic growth, and problems and progress of legal reform are also on the agenda.

"China's shift from a centrally planned system to a market-based economy is one of the most dramatic transformations of our time," said Xiaobo Lu, director of Columbia's Weatherhead East Asian Institute. "Columbia's conference, bringing together top global thinkers, will explore China's role in shaping our world today."

Jagdish Bhagwati, University Professor at Columbia, will deliver the luncheon keynote address on April 7. Other prominent speakers include David Dollar, country director, China, World Bank; John Williamson and Nicolas Lardy, senior fellows, Institute for International Economics; and Shang-Jin Wei, advisor and head of trade unit, Research Department, International Monetary Fund, among others.

The symposium is co-sponsored by the University's Weatherhead East Asian Institute, the Graduate School of Business, School of Law, Mailman School of Public Health, and the Earth Institute. It will be held at the Davis Auditorium of the Schapiro Center for Engineering and Physical Science Research, at 520 W. 120 St., between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue on the Columbia University campus. The event is free and open to the public.